Vaporizer



April 20, 1937. J. ROBINSON VAPORI ZER Original Filed Aug. 21, 1934 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 21, 1934, Serial No. 740,818 Renewed July 11, 1936 4 Claims.

My invention relates to Vaporizers of the portable hand type for vaporizing a medicament for inhalation in the treatment of head colds, sinus, catarrh and other head afllictions. It is an 5 improvement on the construction shown in my U. S. Patent No. 2,024,249 of December 1'7, 1935, issue of an application filed August 18th, 1930, and among the objects is to provide a vaporizer which is very simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and very easy to use, and which tected dry hot medium to produce the desired vapors. Among the objections to that type of vaporizer is the serious hazard of fire and the danger of destructively overheating the medicament in the vaporizer. Another objection is that generally these types of Vaporizers must be used near or in conjunction with a heating means which is invariably not conveniently movable. My improvement eliminates these objections by providing a novel design of vaporizer the medicament carrying chamber of which may be completely submerged in a tumbler or container of hot water or other liquid heat for the purpose of generating the desired vapors. The medicament carrying chamber of my invention is preferably transparent which has the desirable advantage of enabling the user of the instrument to observe the extent and condition of the medicament in the chamber. Employing hot water as the liquid heating medium has the further advantage of avoiding overheating of the medicament. It allows a predetermined temperature to be secured, and maintained for a considerable period with only a slow downward change. The result is that the user of my improved vaporizer can readily secure a treatment of ten to twenty minutes duration before the body of water in which the medicament chamber of the vaporizer is submerged has undesirably cooled. My improvement has the advantage also that it may be easily carried about the home always accompanied when in use by an adequate storage of safe heat. This is a convenience of much importance, and one conducive to the best results for the use of the vaporizer. A portion of the steam arising from, the hot water in which the vaporizer is submerged may when desired be drawn into the vaporizer and mixed with the hot vapors, giving them an added moistening quality.

Other novel features and advantages of my improvement will appear from the following description and in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a sectional view through a tumbler or other container showing my improved vaporrizer in elevation submerged in the hot water contained in the tumbler;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through my improvement, and

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

My improvement includes a container or chamber 5 of any suitable material, thickness and shape, preferably of transparent material and generally shaped as shown, and having a flat base 6 of substantial width and relatively heavy for supporting the vaporizer vertically when not in use. At its upper end the chamber is threaded, as shown, or is otherwise arranged to be tightly secured to the cap I. A sealing ring or gasket 8 is interposed between the upper end of the chamber and the cover 7 to seal the connection between them liquid tight. The cap or cover is stamped or pressed of suitable metal, and is provided with a vertically extending neck 9. Into this neck an elongated hollow stem [9 is pressed or otherwise secured thereto liquid tight. Suitably spaced on the diameter of this stem are openings or vents l I for admitting air to the stem and to the chamber 5. Passing downwardly through this stem, with its lower end terminating near the upper surface of the medicament to be vaporized, is an inner tube I 2 the outside diameter of which in places is considerably smaller than the inside diameter of the stem ID. The tube is pressed at M to form bulges l5 and 16 which contact the inner Walls of the stem II] as shown particularly in Figure 3. These bulges space the lower end. of the inner tube centrally within the stem l0. At the upper end the tube is provided with a nasal member or cap I! suitably secured thereto. In the present embodiment of my invention this nasal member is provided with a cylindrical shank l8 which fits over the tube l2 and inside the stem 10 and serves to centrally space the upper end of the tube with respect to the stern. In the present embodiment of my invention the vents l I are preferably located high enough in the stem I0 to be approximately level with the top of an ordinary tumbler, see Figure 1.

In using my improved vaporizer the cap or cover I is removed from the chamber 5 and a suitable quantity of the desired medicament, in liquid or salve form, is put into the chamber whereupon the chamber is reassembled liquid tight with the cap I. The vaporizer is then set chamber and withdrawing into an ordinary tumbler or container A, filled about three quarters full with water heated to approximately the boiling point. The chamber 5 and cover I should be completely submerged in the hot liquid, as shown in Figure 1. In a few seconds the contents of the chamber begins to vaporize. The tumbler is then raised to the face so that the nasal member I! rests in one of the nasal passages of the user. The other nasal passage is pressed closed. On inhalation air currents enter the vents II and travel downwardly along the tube 12 and the stem l0 into the chamber 5, being heated on the way down and while in the chamber, and they strike against the upper surface of the heated medicament and are deflected toward and are lifted through the tube l2 and carry with them the hot vapors to the nasal passages. A portion of such steam from the hot water or fluid, in which the vaporizer is submerged, as may be rising near the vents II are drawn into the vaporizer, and give a beneficial moistening quality to the hot vapors.

My improvement provides a novel transparent self-contained means, which may be transported at will while being used, for vaporizing any desired medicament in the treatment of heat colds, catarrh, sinus, and other head afiiictions. It is simple, convenient, inexpensive, and very effective, lending itself readily to the rural sections where electricity is not available for heating purposes. Obviously changes in the design and construction of my improvement may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. A vaporizer of the class described adapted to receive heat from a container of hot fluid or the like, comprising in combination, a medicament chamber containing a medicament to be vaporized, a cover for said chamber attached to the chamber in liquid tight relation thereto, a hollow stem extending upwardly from said cover, vents for admitting air currents to the interior of said stem, and means for guiding said air currents downwardly along said stem into said them adjacent the surface of the medicament being vaporized so that, on inhalation, they travel upwardly through said stem.

2. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising in combination, a chamber containing the medicament to be vaporized, a member removably attached liquid tight to said chamber, a hollow elongated stem extending upwardly from said member and provided with vents for admitting air currents to said stem, a tubular member within said-stem for withdrawing the vaporized medicament from said chamber and extending well into said chamber for withdrawing the vapor adjacent the surface of the medicament, means for positioning said tube centrally with respect to the interior of said stem, the relative diameters of said stem and said tube being such that adequate space is provided between them to allow said air currents to freely travel down through said stem along the sides of said tube on inhalation, and a nasal part at the upper end of said stem and said tubular member.

3. A vaporizer of the class described adapted to receive heat from a container of hot fluid or the like, comprising in combination, a medicament chamber containing a medicament to be vaporized, a cover secured liquid tight to said chamber and including a vertically extending stem, a tube in said stem and spaced away from the inner walls of the stem at certain places and contacting with said walls at other places, said tube extending downwardly through said stem into said chamber with its lower end terminating near the upper surface of the medicament to be vaporized, said tube being removable from said stem, and vents in said stem above the level of said hot fluid for admitting air currents into said stem and said chamber which may carry with them portions of the vapors arising from said hot fluid near said vents.

4. An applicator for Vaporizers of the class de scribed adapted to be connected to a container for holding a substance to be vaporized, comprising a unit including a nasal piece having a passage therethrough, a tube connected piece and communicating with the passage therein, and a second tube surrounding the firstmentioned tube in spaced relation to the latter, said last-mentioned tube having openings therein to admit air into the space between the tubes,

and means for connecting said applicator unit to the container for holding the substance to be vaporized.

. JOSEPH ROBINSON.

to said nasal 

